Demonic Pacts, rebuilt

Demonic Pacts were the best part of Leagues VI and also the most frustrating. Half the tree only worked if you were holding one specific kind of weapon. Thorns needed a shield. Second swing needed a weapon under 1kg. Clean hit only worked with crossbows, splash shot only with thrown weapons. Read a node wrong and you'd sunk points into something that did nothing for your setup.

So we rebuilt them. Same map, same 132 nodes, same paths between them. Every single pact has been rewritten, most of the numbers have been retuned, and almost all the weapon restrictions are gone.

How the tree works

• You get 40 pact points to spend.
• Everyone starts at Save supplies in the middle of the map: a 50% chance to keep the ammo, runes or charges you just used.
• You can only take a node that's next to one you already own. Refunding works the same way, you can't strand anything.
• The tree fans out into four areas: Core nodes that help every style, and three combat lanes for Melee, Ranged and Magic.
• Small nodes are minor stats. The large nodes at the end of each branch are the ones you build around.

40 points doesn't get you everything. You'll pick a lane, maybe dip into a second, and grab the Core nodes on the way.

Plain English, all the way down

Every description in the pact menu has been rewritten so it says exactly what it does, with the real number in it. No more "+#%" placeholders and no more two-paragraph keyword definitions. A few before and after:

League: "While you have a shield equipped you gain the Thorns effect..." DamnedX: "When an enemy damages you, they take 3 damage."

League: "Crossbow hits always max hit." DamnedX: "Ranged attacks have a 15% chance to deal their max hit."

League: "Bows attack 1 tick (0.6s) faster." DamnedX: "All ranged weapons attack 0.6 seconds faster. They cannot go below 1.2 seconds."

If a pact still reads confusingly in game, tell us. That's a bug now.

Core

The shared middle of the tree. Every build walks through some of it.

• Save supplies / Save more. Stacking chances to keep your ammo, runes and charges.
• Accuracy. +10% or +15% accuracy with every style.
• Defence and Toughness. Flat Defence levels, and 4% less damage taken.
• Prayer pierce. 10% of your damage ignores protection prayers. There are a lot of these scattered around, and they stack.
• Overheal. Healing from pacts can take you above your max hitpoints, up to 30% over if you take all three.
• A handful of utility nodes: 20% free special attacks, 5% recoil, prayer that ticks back up on its own, and a heal when an attack on you deals 0.

Melee

The melee lane is eight Melee power nodes (+5% melee damage each) with the interesting stuff hanging off them.

• Thorns. Anyone who damages you takes 3 damage back. No shield needed. Armoured thorns adds 1 more for every 20 defence bonus you have.
• Second swing. Melee attacks hit again for 40% of the damage. Any weapon, not just the light ones.
• Faster melee. Every melee weapon attacks 0.6 seconds faster, down to a floor of 1.2 seconds.
• Cleave gives melee attacks a 15% chance to also hit a nearby enemy, and Wider cleave adds another 10%.
• Long reach, Melee leech, Prayer strength and Healthy hits round it out.

The four big melee nodes:

• Thorns echo. Thorns hits a second time for half damage.
• Spec on hit. Melee hits restore 4% special attack energy.
• Heavy cleave. That extra cleave hit deals half your max hit.
• Further reach. All melee weapons reach 2 more tiles.

Ranged

Ten Ranged power nodes (+5% ranged damage each), built around echo shots.

• Echo shot. Ranged attacks have a 25% chance to hit again for half damage. More echoes and two Echo chance nodes push that chance up.
• Sure echo makes that second hit never miss. Heavy echo gives it a 20% chance to max. Echo chain lets an echo trigger another one.
• Faster ranged. Every ranged weapon, bows or not, attacks 0.6 seconds faster.
• Heavier ranged, Ranged strength, Ranged prayer and Bloodied shot are the stat nodes.

The six big ranged nodes:

• Rising floor. Each ranged hit raises your minimum hit by 1, up to 15% of your max. Taking a hit halves it.
• Rising ceiling. Same idea, for your max hit.
• Clean hit. 15% chance for a ranged attack to max hit. Any ranged weapon.
• Double roll. Ranged accuracy rolls twice and keeps the better one.
• Ranged focus. +20% ranged accuracy.
• Splash shot. Ranged attacks also hit one nearby enemy for half damage. No thrown weapon needed.

Magic

Eight Magic power nodes (+5% magic damage each). Magic splits by element, and the ancient spells now slot into those elements: smoke counts as air, ice as water, blood as fire, shadow as earth.

• Air restores prayer and hits harder the more prayers you have on.
• Water heals you, and does more damage at full health.
• Fire does extra damage, and can burn a bit of your own HP for double that as damage. It can't kill you.
• Earth raises your Defence and drains the target's.
• Faster magic and Faster staves each take 0.6 seconds off, and a separate staff branch saves charges, heals and restores prayer.

The four big magic nodes, one per element:

• Air max. Air spells have a 10% chance to max hit, doubled against enemies weak to air.
• Water leech. Water spells heal you for 20% of the damage they deal.
• Fire spread. Fire spells burn the target and jump to one nearby enemy.
• Earth might. Earth spells deal 1 extra damage for every 8 Defence levels you have.

What stayed the same

The map. Node positions, connections and the starting point are all exactly where they were in the league, so if you had a route planned, you'll still recognise it. What each node does is where it changed.

Numbers can still move before launch. If something feels broken, too strong or pointless, say so on Discord.